Is there anything called an alternative ? Is Traditional medicine alternative medicine ? Unani, Ayurveda, Chinese and hundreds of other systems of folk and popular healing have been around for centuries . What is alternative energy for example . Solar, Wind , Biomass . Biomass has been there since the beginning of time . Drying clothes in the sun is not using an electric dryer , is using solar energy . Windmills and watermills have been there since centuries too . What always passes as alternative has its own issues , and many a time it will end up worse than what was established. So we thought Coal and Oil will future the worlds energy and are now stuck with Greenhouse gases and millions with asthma ! As for Solar , just so you guys know, the future is all Chinese . In terms of Energy Resource Democracy there are about 30 countries that produce more than 0.1% of the worlds coal, about 55 countries that produce more than 0.1% of worlds oil, almost every country will use dams and hydro-power . There are maybe 5 countries that have the Rare Earths needed to make the photovoltaics and batteries . In 2010, more than 97 per cent of rare earth minerals came from China, which holds 37 per cent of known reserves; by comparison, the United States holds 13 per cent of the worlds reserves but it presently does not contribute to global production. Thin, cheap solar panels need tellurium, which makes up a scant 0.0000001 percent of the earth’s crust, making it three times rarer than gold. High-performance batteries need lithium, which is only easily extracted from briny pools in the Andes.Platinum, needed as a catalyst in fuel cells that turn hydrogen into energy, comes almost exclusively from South Africa. I worked for 20 years on natural-dyes, replacing synthetic dyes in textile dyeing . The catch 22 is the raw material source . It was easy when there was 1000 meters of cotton being produced per worker in the early 1900s , not when you want 20,000 meters per worker at the minimum now. There are not enough natural materials being grown, then the water demand and soil demand just as in bio-fuels. I do not believe that an industry with even a lower diversity of suppliers than Oil will ever get huge traction. China produces more than 66% of worlds photovoltaics ! Followed by Taiwan at 15% . So 81% is by the One China Policy . They control the global alternative future by the whole body except the hair ! And the West will not mine these Rare Earths on their own lands due to human and ecological costs (as yet) . There is no modern development without human and ecological costs , has never been , never will be. There is no alternative to the Dirty Energy or Dirty Mining . There is , as I have been saying, only a realistic basket of options, and every nation and community will have to make their own . Russia and China know their power over both Oil and Gas now and the Solar Futures respectively . If there is any ecologically sustainable future , it is not a political or technological one , the two main languages of this modernity . It is from another space . In this one God is Dead . So is the ability of the Human to experience any joy except Consumption. The town of Baotou, in Inner Mongolia, is the largest Chinese source of these strategic elements, essential to advanced technology, from smartphones to GPS receivers, but also to wind farms and, above all, electric cars. The concentration of rare earths in the ore is very low, so they must be separated and purified, using hydro-metallurgical techniques and acid baths. China accounts for 97% of global output of these precious substances, with two-thirds produced in Baotou. The foul waters of the tailings pond contain all sorts of toxic chemicals, but also radioactive elements such as thorium which, if ingested, cause cancers of the pancreas and lungs, and leukaemia. Before the factories were built, there were just fields here as far as the eye can see. In the place of this radioactive sludge, there were watermelons, aubergines and tomatoes, says Li Guirong with a sigh. The farmers who have stayed on tend to gather near the mahjong hall. I have aching legs, like many of the villagers. Theres a lot of diabetes, osteoporosis and chest problems. All the families are affected by illness, says He Guixiang, 60. Ive been knocking on government doors for nearly 20 years, she says. To begin with Id go every day, except Sundays. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_photovoltaics_production na.unep.net/geas/getUNEPPageWithArticleIDScript.php?article_id=55 e360.yale.edu/feature/a_scarcity_of_rare_metals_is_hindering_green_technologies/2711/ theguardian/environment/2012/aug/07/china-rare-earth-village-pollution
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 03:57:54 +0000
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